September 2017
It's seven years since I had my right lower leg amputated and I started this blog. I am mostly not concerned about the ankle anymore. It is the aging process that interests me because I a so involved in a critical part of it. So, I thought I would share some occasional comments about this aging old lady with one leg.

About Me

Monday, January 7, 2013

Monday, January 7, 2012

Getting ready for bed at the Penn Stater in State College. Thinking about the process of getting ready - besides those regular things like washing my face and brushing my teeth and peeing. Decided it is time to start blogging again - about getting older - actually about getting old. So far, I think I look as if I am doing it with grace, but I am thinking about those extra bedtime steps that have to do with this aging body. For me they are: taking out the hearing aid (this is a new activity), taking off the leg, cleaning the inner sleeve that sits on the leg (I use baby wipes to do that), and cleaning the remaining leg part (again with baby wipes) then crawling into bed and when done with either TV or reading, taking off the glasses. I think there is a haiku here, but I haven't gotten there yet. I have never been the most attentive person in terms of body care - want to simply have to shower, dress and go and then do minimum steps at night too - simply about staying clean. It's gotten more complicated.

I had an interesting experience at a TSA checkpoint about a month ago. The officer (a female) looked at my driver's license, looked at me, looked at the license again and looked up and started with "You don't". I interrupted her and said "I know I don't look that old, but you would know for sure how old I was if I took my clothes off". I was 77 this December birthday. I figure that really is old. So, I am taking advantage of some of the gifts that being old brings - senior citizen prices at the movies (sometimes), folks giving me seats when I ride the Pittsburgh bus, folks picking things up when I drop them. It gives me permission to go to bed early, to excuse myself early from evening events, and to be cranky or crotchety.

It also brings reflections about life, especially my life. It brings thinking about how to live the rest of this life as it gets harder to be independent. I'm going to pay some attention to that stuff in this blog as well as tell funny stories when they occur to me.